WARSCAPES

Warscapes is an independent online magazine that provides a lens into current conflicts across the world. Warscapes publishes fiction, non-fiction, poetry, interviews, book and film reviews and photo-essays. www.warscapes.com

[warscapes]

2014 marks 25 years since the collapse of the Berlin Wall . . .

An excerpt from the graphic novel, BERLIN - A City Divided by Susanne Buddenberg and Thomas Henseler

"Before 1989, depending on which side of the wall you were born, everything was different, even the air you smelled. We both grew up in the West, and we often asked ourselves: how does it feel to live on the other side? Who can you trust? Who are your friends?"

[warscapes]

On the Fringes of India's Political and Moral Consciousness

by Ayesha Pervez for Warscapes

"Tales of repression and subjugation are ubiquitous in the military-ruled northernmost borderland of India, the state of Jammu and Kashmir.  The Indian government appositely refers to it as “disturbed.” How else would anyone define a territory where the population’s collective memory wails of military and police excesses, where, invariably, every household has a painful story to share?

"In the discourse of violence in Kashmir, the word ‘justice’ becomes almost effaced, noticeably but uncontestedly. I asked a rape survivor in Kashmir if she wanted her rapist, an army major, punished. Silence followed. I asked again if she desired justice. She responded, 'What justice? What is this thing called justice?' After a pause, she added, 'And who will give it?'" . . . 

[warscapes]

Ready to Burst (an excerpt)

by Frankétienne

Every day, I employ the dialect of untamed hurricanes. I speak the mad- ness of opposing winds.

Every evening, I use the patois of furious rains. I speak the rage of over- flowing waters.

Every night, I speak to the islands of the Caribbean in the language of hysterical storms. I speak the madness of the sea in heat.

Dialect of hurricanes. Patois of rains. Language of storms. Unfolding of life in a spiral.

In its essence, life is tension. Toward something. Toward someone. Toward oneself. Toward the point of maturation where the ancient and the new unravel. Death and birth. And every being finds itself – in part – in pursuit of its double. A pursuit that might even seem to bear the intensity of need, of desire, of infinite quest.

Dogs pass by (I’ve always been obsessed with stray dogs). They yap at the silhouette of the woman I’ve been chasing. At the image of the man I’ve been seeking out. At my double. At the murmurings of fleeting voices. For so many years now. It feels like thirty centuries.

The woman has left. Without fanfare. Left my heart out of tune. The man never held out his hand to me. My double is always just a step ahead of me. And the unhinged throats of nocturnal dogs let loose terrifying howls, making the sound of a broken accordion.

It is then that I become a tempest of words, bursting open the hypocrisy of clouds and the deceitfulness of silence. Rivers. Storms. Flashes of light- ning. Mountains. Trees. Lights. Rains. Untamed oceans. Take me away in the frenzied marrow of your joints. Take me away! It would take just a hint of clarity for me to be born with nine lives. For me to accept life. Tension. The inexorable law of maturation. Osmosis and symbiosis. Take me away! It would take just the sound of a footstep, a glance, a tender voice, for me to live happily in the hope that Man is capable of awakening. Take me away! For it would take so little for me to speak of the sap that circulates in the marrow of cosmic joints.

Dialect of hurricanes. Patois of rains. Language of storms. I speak the unfolding of life in a spiral.

[gaywrites]

Today begins LGBT History Month! Let’s celebrate our victories, remember our roots, and never stop making history.

[warscapes]

warscapes on marriage equality

[medievalpoc]

Photographer going to Afghanistan actually doing something vs Tumblr with an opinion.

Sometimes I really, truly wonder if messages like these are meant to be some kind of impromptu lesson in philosophy? Like, should I sit here for a while and just think about what the true nature of “doing something” is?

Let’s go for it. Let’s all think about the true nature of “doing something”, and wonder at the fact that someone actually typed this out and clicked “send”.

[warscapes]

Is social media a useful tool for “doing something?”

[warscapes]

"Confessions: An Interview with Ken Bugul"

Ken Bugul, Wolof for “one who is unwanted,” is the penname of Mariètou Mbaye Biléoma. Born in 1947 in Ndoucoumane, Senegal, Bugul has risen to prominent fame as one of Senegal’s most prolific and internationally celebrated writers. In the words of scholars Ada Uzoamaka Azodo and Jeanne-Sarah de Larquier, Bugul’s “tremendous contribution” has ensured her the title of “one of the most important figures in sub-Saharan literature.”

Following is an excerpt from her interview with Ngoundji Dieng of the Sengalese Newspaper Le Quotidien.

Le Quotidien: Some find you quite mysterious. How do you see it?

Ken Bugul: No, I am not mysterious. I am a normal human being with eyes and ears. So, there is no mystery. I do not hide. On the contrary, I am quite flashy. Mysterious does not fit my persona. There is no mystery. I write autobiographically. I uncover myself. I unveil myself. Sometimes people can say this like that Beninese student who said he did not want to meet me when I lived in Benin. He did not believe I could exist. I was a myth for him. He did not believe that such person could exist. That, I can agree with him on, but mysterious, no.

I say what I mean. I have gotten wiser with age, but I used to be very flashy. I dreamed of living in a glass house forever so that people on the outside could see how I live. Even when I am naked in the shower. That has always been my dream. As I am aging, I start to notice my skin sagging, and I say to myself: “That’s not possible! That’s not attractive.” Because I have always had a sense of what is beautiful. I would consider myself to be mythical rather than mysterious.”

[warscapes]

"Peace Plan" in Eastern Ukraine?

"Regardless of whether I’m in the metropolis of Donetsk or further east in Luhansk, it’s hard to find anyone who will express trust in the document signed on September 5th in Minsk outlining the terms by which the warring factions are expected to cease hostilities. The decision of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) on September 16th - providing for the implementation of the “peace plan” promising greater autonomy and outlining terms of an amnesty for participants in the fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk - has not changed the general mood in any way . . ."  

"After more than three thousand deaths and hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced (both to Russia and the western regions of Ukraine), could the Ukrainian civil war really be over? Many hope so; they hope that the ceasefire signed in Minsk and the decisions initiated by Rada will serve as a pillar for resolving the problem. In the area where the fighting occurred, however, the people – full of resentment and divided – remain in doubt."

Anne Nivat for warscapes on the Ukrainian civil war

[warscapes]

"A woman named Muna carries a goose across the border between Syria and Jordan. She has just watched soldiers execute four of her children, ransack her home, burn her land, and slaughter her animals . . . 'I brought my goose because it’s the only family I have left,” she explains.'"

"She and the refugees are equally as helpless in the face of their losses. 'I’m going to listen to you for the next hour, and when you cry I’m going to cry with you, and I’m going to hug you, and I’m not going to pretend I can change anything. I’m just going to sit and listen.’”

"Participation in this project of memory sustenance allows us to begin to combat the numbers that have constrained our understanding of human suffering. By acknowledging the dynamism of the individual, we can refuse to allow a statistic or an image to transform a person into a symbol and reject the representative control of forces that have already physically subjugated the body." 

Melissa Smyth for warscapes on art and healing among refugees

Paintings: Through a Bullet Hole, 6x8 and Hanging In There 18x14

[warscapes]

Twenty-five years ago today, Denmark enacted the world's first same-sex partnership legislation. The law granted legal parity to same-sex couples in "registered partnership" as to opposite sex marriage. In June 2012, Denmark repealed "registered partnership" and replaced it with a gender neutral marriage law.

n 2004, Massachusetts became the first US state to recognize same-sex marriage. Today, 19 states allow same-sex marriage.

In 2013, United States v. Windsor struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

There's a long way to go before the US legislates for true marriage equality, and even longer before the rest of the world catches on. But, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of this day, we can affirm that we've made progress towards tolerance and acceptance, that we're headed in the right direction.

Garrett Connelly for warscapes on marriage equality,

[warscapes]

“How does it feel to see 200,000 people coming to New York for your book launch?” asked Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, when introducing journalist and author Naomi Klein at the New School before a talk about her new book on climate change, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate. While that number may be an exaggeration, there is no doubt that Klein’s “change everything” mantra is energizing the 350-organized movement threatening to “Flood Wall Street” by Monday, September 22. Not only Wall Street is under deluge; today’s People’s Climate March, billed as the largest ever march of its kind, intends to have its say during the UN Summit on climate change. Klein’s book has provided a rallying cry for the marchers: “to change everything we need everyone.”

warscapes at the People's Climate March

[warscapes]

Twenty five years ago this week in Kent, UK, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) detonated a 15-pound bomb within the Royal Marine Music School. The blast killed 11 members of the Royal Marine Band Service, and wounded 21. Most of the victims were teenagers.

"The attack holds resonance for the age and number of the victims and the location...This particularly bloody memory of the long and violent era of Northern Ireland’s occupation provides a lens for current conflicts. Taking a look back, we can see that while treaties have been signed and troops removed, there is still incredible tension in Northern Ireland, stemming from divisions imposed by the British Empire."

Garrett Connolly for warscapes 

[warscapes]

"According to the 2007 “Campus Sexual Assault Study” sponsored by the National Institute of Justice, more than 50% of incidences of campus sexual assault occur in the first few weeks of the fall term. A 2003 Department of Justice Report supports these findings, as does a 2008 study, “Risk of Unwanted Sex for College Women: Evidence of a Red Zone,” published in the Journal of American College Health. Freshmen are particularly at risk. They are often new to independence and naïve to real dangers lurking behind the university party scene. The story of Anna, a college student of Hobart and William Smith Colleges, is enough cause for concern.

The New York Times recently featured an article, “Reporting Rape, and Wishing She Hadn’t,” about Anna’s experience with the university investigation of her case. The article focuses on the lethargic, inconsistent, and dismissive handling of Anna’s case, ranging from failure to protect victim privacy to a general lack of support."

Sarah Luft for warscapes on the Red Zone

[warscapes]

My Demands of the US Literary Market

In Alison Flood’s article, “Writers attack ‘overrated’ Anglo-American literature at Jaipur festival,” writer and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo (author of Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers) says, “Our reading habit has been stolen and changed...our reading habit is more Anglo-Saxon, more American...all the poetry, all the alternative things, have been pushed away by mainstream society.” 

[warscapes]

Human Zoo in Norway Re-occupies Space of European Superiority

The Norwegian artists Mohamed Ali Fadlabi and Lars Cuzner are recreating, as part of a nationwide commemoration of 200 years of the Norwegian Constitution, a "human zoo" as a way of provoking an engagement with Norway’s colonial past. 

[warscapes]

Denial Through Silence

A novelist revisits the Rwandan genocide from 20 years ago and takes the French, African and international establishment to task for a deliberate "denialism."

[warscapes]

Responsibility Without Capacity

On Thursday, April 17, armed youths broke through the gates of the UN Mission in South Sudan and opened fire, killing forty-eight people and injuring a hundred more before UN peacekeepers could repel the attack. 

[warscapes]

Monsanto and the Other Chemical Weapon

Western concern over weapons of mass destruction overlook a chemical weapons threat closer to home: Monsanto.